Jade Software eyes global dominance for Master Terminal

April 30
(BusinessDesk) - Jade Software, which took its intelligence
software developer Wynyard Group public last year, has grand
designs for its Master Terminal business to become the
world’s top supplier of operating systems for mixed cargo
ports.

The Christchurch-based software developer is
ramping up its pitch for international customers for Master
Terminal after some success in the Middle East and North
America over the past two years. Chief executive David
Lindsay says being able to handle mixed cargo rather than
containers alone is a competitive advantage for Master
Terminal’s port management system.

“We view it as a
quite substantial opportunity – it’s not often you get
that opportunity to take the number one position,” Lindsay
told BusinessDesk. “If we stopped growing, we’re
basically profitable, but we do want to drive and accelerate
growth as much as possible.”

In Jade’s 2013 annual
report, Lindsay touted plans for Master Terminal to evolve
into a logistics company with new products on offer, after
sales growth of 26 percent last year. Jade’s group revenue
gained 14 percent to $26.5 million, though the company
didn’t break down the individual units’ performances.

Lindsay told BusinessDesk the mixed cargo ports have big
greenfield opportunities, with about 40 percent of ports
around the world still using paper-based systems.

Jade’s
Master Terminal unit has gone from one US customer in 2012
to seven, and expects to add another three in the near
future, with “that rate of growth continuing,” Lindsay
said.

The company is developing a new product which can
be used by inland terminals, which Lindsay said will
probably be ready for commercial release early next year. It
also wants to expand its product range and working with
customers to find what they want.

Lindsay said the growth
phase for Master Terminal will be over the next three to
five years, which will likely see it develop into a broader
logistics company, and would probably been channel partners
to help with global expansion.

The increased emphasis on
Master Terminal comes after Jade’s successful exit of
Wynyard, which it carved out as a standalone business last
year before the intelligence software developer’s initial
public offer in July.

About 64 percent of Wynyard was
sold to the public at $1.15 a share, and the stock has since
soared to $2.30. Jade investors also received a $14.9
million capital return this year via a share buyback after
the company’s board struggled to find any other compelling
investment opportunities.

“If you really do put all
your focus on one or two key parts of the business, you’re
able to increase growth exponentially,” Lindsay said.

The other remaining leg to Jade, the digital and
enterprise businesses, will be merged into one unit, which
Lindsay says will let customers have a full suite of
products available from purpose-built software through to
mobile applications.

Jade is targeting financial services
and utilities as sectors rife with growth opportunities, at
a time when about three-quarters of firms’ information
technology budgets are being spent on building applications
and driving customer engagement, Lindsay said.

“Unless
you build something transactional that allows customers to
do something, it doesn’t provide a business benefit,” he
said.

The Wellington-based BusinessDesk team led by former Bloomberg Asian top editor Jonathan Underhill and Qantas Award-winning journalist and commentator Pattrick Smellie provides a daily news feed for a serious business audience.

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